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Boilo: Pennsylvanian honey-spiced whiskey

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000

There has never been a drink that starts out so rough and ends up so smooth. You can expect an alcohol shiver with the first sip, but each subsequent nip is an even glide toward an amiable contentment. And unlike any other drink I have ever had, it gets more delicious with each taste. I've never had a hangover from Boilo, just a sort of memory loss. You will need a designated driver for this one.

Boilo is a traditional Christmas drink brought over from Lithuania. I grew up in a small town in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania and half of the population was from Eastern Europe. Every family had its own coveted recipe for Boilo and was convinced it was superior to all others. The choice of fruit was the marker of uniqueness -- lemon was common. One family swore by maraschino cherries, surely an American adaptation since I doubt they could be found easily in the old country. I checked the recipe with my sisters and one cousin; each is slightly different, so I chose the most endearing one.

Boilo

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000

This is a family recipe so some of the ingredients are kind of "homey" and the directions have an insistent, pushy quality about them. You can almost feel the unremitting spirit of my mother, who had a tendency to over-direct her children by using capital letters, punctuation and/or underlining.

Ingredients

1 quart of rye whiskey*
3 whole black peppercorns
juice from ½ orange
the juiced half-orange itself
a scant tablespoon of caraway seeds
1 Mickey Mouse juice glass of honey**
grain alcohol***

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan with a lid; the liquid should fit with plenty of room, so it doesn't boil and catch fire. Bring nearly to a boil then IMMEDIATELY reduce the heat and simmer on LOW for 15 minutes. DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil and ignite. Turn off the heat. Strain into the Boilo pot (making sure you have washed it out first.) Don't forget to plug in the pot!!! Serve WARM in a shot glass or cordial glass. ENJOY!!!!

* It is VERY important to use ONLY Rye whiskey. (Jim Beam or Wild Turkey both make ryes.)

Elemental macaroni and cheese

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:04:00 +0000

Ingredients

1 pound elbow macaroni
12 ounces Herkimer cheese, rough grated
4 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups milk (approximately)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook macaroni until firm, al dente, in salted water according to package directions. Strain.
In a 3-quart oven-proof casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the macaroni, dabs of butter, 1/3 of the grated cheese, salt and pepper. Repeat until you have 3 layers in all. Pour in the milk, until it's an inch below the macaroni. Sprinkle with bread crumbs if you feel fancy.
Place casserole uncovered in the middle of the oven and bake for about 1 hour, until it's moist, not runny, and with a golden browned top.

Elemental macaroni and cheese, original comfort food

Tue, 11 May 2010 00:20:00 +0000

This winning entry for the Salon Kitchen Challenge -- in which we asked readers to share their favorite recipes from their mothers -- comes to us courtesy of Trish Rainbow. Check out this week's Challenge here. We haven't had a chance to try this recipe out yet, but we'd love to hear about it if you do!

My mother made macaroni and cheese (never mac–n-cheese) in winter, and with the coming of Easter, put it away like white shoes after Labor Day. It felt like a venial sin in disguise every Friday during Lent.